Off-camera flash for D40

[ELAY]

I have been reading about off-camera flash for my D40, and was wondering if anybody had already devised something for theirs. I am thinking along the lines of the minimalist setup proposed at Strobist, (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html) and wondering especially about what flashes people are using with their D40s, what triggers, and whether people are finding settings that work.

Thanks,

EL

[topslakr]

Take a look at this. I've not used it but it seems like a good start...

Slave Flash (http://photojojo.com/content/buy-this/metz-28-cs-2-slave-flash-rocks/)

[ELAY]

Thanks for tracking that down for me topslakr.

The idea of a slave seems like the way to go for a second off-camera unit, which is probably step 2. Step 1 is acquiring on off-camera flash unit, mounting it on something, and figuring out a way for the camera to fire it. I know
(think?) the D40 is a bit more limited than other Nikon DSLRs in this regard, so i was wondering what other people have come up with.

EL

[jdepould]

The SB-800 should be able to control pretty much anything from the hot shoe on your camera, so if you think you're going to be using a multiple unit setup then that may be a good place to start. The SB-400 came out with the D40 and is sort of paired with it, doesn't have a ton of features but it's not a bad starter piece either. The SB-600 is in between, if you don't need all the commander features, that's probably the one to get. Not sure about other manufacturer's units (sunpak, etc).

[NaturesPixel]

jdepould (http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/member.php?u=4022) is right the Sb-800 has a built in commander that is needed for the d40 so if you are thinking abt buying a pocket wizzard for abt 200$ US
you may wanna think abt the SB-800 for abt 300$ US and work your way to getting another flash unit like the sb-400 or sb-600??

[ELAY]

Thank you folks.

I will look a bit more closely at the SB-600 and 800.

EL

[jdepould]

The other possibility is to get the -600 and see if you think you need something more, then get the -800 if you do.

[ELAY]

The 600 looks like a good piece of equipment. I could augment it with a slave down the line if I felt the need.

I am a bit hazy about the options for getting it off-camera though -- i guess cables is one way to go, infra-red or radio transmission the other.

EL

[topslakr]

The nice thing about the slave flash I posted is that you don't need to do anything for it to work. When it detects the flash on the D40 (or any other camera) it fires. Seems like a good place to start. All you need to do is tell your camera to flash and when the D40 goes off the slave will flash as well. No commanders, no cables no wireless/radio anything. Just a simple box that detects a flash and then flashes.

To Quote the Photojojo post about it:
Here’s how it works: The tiny Metz is an external flash that runs on AAAs. As soon as your camera’s own flash fires, the Metz fires, too. Automatically. Without wires. Within milliseconds. (Speed of light and all that.)


Don't let me stop you from getting some fun stuff to play wth :) but as a first foray into off camera flash it seems like a good item.

Topslakr

[jdepould]

All things being equal, firing a slave with another flash is less than ideal. It works, but it isn't as precise. I thought it didn't matter myself until I tried firing my studio setup with the flash on my D200 . . . didn't work so well, went back to the PC sync.

[ELAY]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

The Nikon Creative Lighting System seems like a promising way to go -- though at something of a hefty price. My issue with using the onboard flash to trigger other flashes is that I don't want to use my onboard flash -- but I gather that you can get a nifty device that will filter out the visible flash light but let the infrared -- which does the triggering -- through.

I'm on a shoestring, but you have all got me thinking. Stay tuned.

EL

[mdwsta4]

if you're already reading strobist you're on the right track and i'm sure you've also seen their recommendation of SB-25, 26, etc model flashes. i'm not saying you won't get 'more' with the SB-800 or something along those lines like others here recommended, but you don't need to. i, personally, have a canon 430ex and a nikon sb-26 to use off camera. pocket wizards are great, but pricey. search for Gadget Infinity on ebay and you'll find their remote triggers/receivers for a mere $30. best news is they work great (i love mine)! if you search the strobist flickr discussion threads you will find countless number of people praising them (again, think of the price!).
so instead of one SB-800 and a pair of PW's, spend under $200 (about 1/4 less expensive!!) and get two flashes and triggers. with the money you save you can buy some light stands, umbrellas, and gels. when you're comfortable with off camera flash and want to upgrade later down the line, you can.
if you have a D40 i'd venture to guess you're not a pro and don't need to spend more money on a lighting set up than you did on the camera. my suggestion is a lot more cost effective and works just as well as any other set up.

cheers

[ELAY]

Hey Matt.

You know, you are dead right. Those Gadget Infinity rigs are exactly what I have been looking for-- and man, when you look at the price of hot-shoe adapters and cabling, they are dirt cheap.

That's the way I'll go. The Nikon system sounds very cool but is out of my league both cash-wise and photography-wise.

Thanks for pointing me back to where I started before I started to drift.

EL

[mdwsta4]

no problem. you won't need any other adapters for your flashes to work with the GI triggers/receivers. you simply connect the trigger on your camera's hot shoe and connect the receiver the the hot shoe of the flash. that's it.

[ELAY]

Matt -- bad grammar on my part.

I meant to contrast the cost of the radio transmitters with the equal or greater cost of adapters, cabling etc.

Thanks again.

EL

[jeffegg2]

I just ordered a wireless trigger for my D40 and Vivitar 285HV. I'll let you know how well it works. I like my old vivitar workhorse, very powerful flash! I used to have it adapted to work with my old point and shoot, made those photos come out like a dslr.